Proposal for “Sweetwater U.” moving forward

South Bay school district looks at novel approach to provide higher education

CHULA VISTA  Frustrated by the lack of progress to bring a University of California or California State University campus to the South Bay, leaders at the local high school district are considering a plan to build their own college campus informally dubbed “Sweetwater U.”

“We are no longer living in a K-12 society, we are living in a K-16 society. A high school diploma wouldn’t get you as far as you’d want to get,” Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Ed Brand said. “We are looking at asking the voters to approve a school bond to build a local university for the residents of South County.”

The idea came about, Brand said, because it seems unlikely that the state will be able to build a university in the South Bay anytime soon with California’s economy in such disarray.

“From concept to execution, a UC campus often takes 20 to 30 years. My belief is the university is needed much sooner than that,” Brand said.

Plans for a university in the South Bay have been discussed as far back as 1988, when then-mayor Greg Cox talked about it in his State of the City address. A University of California site was included in the city’s general plan update and developers donated hundreds of acres in the Otay Ranch area in the late 1990s for a university site.

“We think that just having a piece of property isn’t enough to draw somebody,” Brand said.

Instead, the district is considering a plan to build a significant facility on land it or the city of Chula Vista already owns. He said he didn’t have an estimate as to how much the facility would cost or how large the bond measure would need to be.

Brand envisions a university that could be built by 2015 or 2016 which could focus on a handful of majors, such as teaching or nursing degrees. The university could partner with local employers such school districts or hospitals to line up jobs for future graduates. He said one idea is that it initially could enroll 1,000 to 2,000 students and grow to serve 5,000 to 10,000.

“The idea is to live, to go to school, to work and to have it in a self-contained environment called South County,” he said. “They would be the type of jobs the region needs, the region wants to have, to ensure that more people have the opportunity to get good-paying jobs.”

The Sweetwater district, the largest secondary school system in California, would pursue partnerships with private or public universities. Brand said the district “expects to be a pace setter” on the project and isn’t modeling the approach on any other university.

“All options are on the table,” he said. “If someone says no, we will find another way to say yes.”

A year ago, Chula Vista leaders reviewed a study that looked at potential student numbers and possible economic impact of building a university in the region. Assemblyman Marty Block, D San Diego, last year introduced a bill that would have required the California Postsecondary Education Commission to examine the possibility of expanding higher education in Chula Vista.